Rejoice Always…Really?

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand Philippians 4:4-5 ESV It is a constant throbbing pain. Some days I “feel” every bone in my ankles, fingers, and wrists. It is exhausting and depressing. So when I come to Philippians 4:4…
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A Battle

A Battle By Angela Mackey They. People I trust and love People I hide from If THEY knew… If they knew what I thought If they realized what I have experienced THEY would call me names… Heretic. Foolish. Liar Progressive. Conservative. Wrong. Or would they? I do not know because I hide.
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Culpable?

Culpable? by Angela Mackey It happened before A leaving, a void, a rift   I see it. How it happened. Where we have been. Will they listen? Decisions tabled Waiting, flailing, languishing I see it. The coming storm. Will they listen? Do I dare? Bitterness whispers Tearing, ripping, wounding I see it. The anger roiling.…
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EnJOYing Election Season: Cultivating Joy in the Chaos

EnJOYing Election Season: Cultivating Joy in the Chaos

“Evangelicals for Harris” are all CHINOS — Christians In Name Only. God is not fooled. Neither should we be fooled. My Social Media feeds are full of vitriol…from both sides of the political divide. “How can any Christian vote for a convicted criminal, rapist, insurrectionist, etc.” And it grieves me. The Bible says that all…
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Art and Beauty: How to Embrace Beauty to Change Culture

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way… things I had no words for.” ― Georgia O’Keeffe Sometimes we forget that God created beauty. At least we evangelicals who value utilitarianism above beauty and art do. We forget that God is the original artist. He paints on canvases…
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A Reason to Go to Church: God’s Presence and Joy

“Silence is the perfectest herald of joy. I were but little happy if I could say how much.”  Claudio, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare God does something special when His people come together as a congregation. When we sing, take communion, baptize people, listen to the preaching of God’s Word, His presence comes to us in a special…
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Joy and Presence

Just a note…I have missed sharing this space with you all. So through prayer and planning, my goal is to post here twice a month. I hope you are blessed. Where Joy is Found You [the LORD] reveal the path of life to me;in your presence is abundant joy;at your right hand are eternal pleasures. Psalm…
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Intimacy, Holiness, and Power

“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?” Psalm 15:1 My heart echoes the cry of the psalmist. How do I get close to God? How do I develop a deep and abiding relationship? Can I move-in with God? What must I do so I can dwell with…
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Discipline and Missions

The word God gave me this year is discipline… I am flat out bad at it. I feel constrained by schedules and when I don’t accomplish tasks on the days I plan I chastise myself. But then I don’t plan my time and so I have a stack of things that need mended or a…
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God Did It – A Conference, A Call, and You

In case you didn’t know, last week I spoke at The M.O.M. Initiative’s Better Together Conference. Here are some pictures of the conference.   I flew on a plane to Jacksonville, Florida and met with 22 authors and speakers who shared break-out sessions and keynotes to several hundred women. It was a sweet time of…
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Explosive Situations

“Are you serious?” I asked the TSA agent incredulously. “My hands tested positive for explosives?” At 4:00 AM that morning my husband and I woke up. Fifteen minutes later we roused our three children (ages 9, 6, and 4). By 4:45 AM the five of us were on our way to the airport. We checked…
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Discovering Grace

My first lesson about grace didn’t happen in church. At seven I opened the door of my heart to Jesus. I knew I sinned, I knew He died and rose again for me, but somehow I missed grace. I grew-up thinking the Christian faith logical. Anyone smart enough to look would discover God is God…
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Pray Continually Day 30

I can’t believe 30 days of training ourselves to pray continually is coming to an end. As I type, I am sitting in a prayer garden with sounds of chirping birds and running water from a water feature. A fitting place to commune with God in prayer. As I sit on this bench I picture…
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Almost Done: Praying Continually Day 29

Today is day 29 of my praying continually challenge. Whew, it has been a challenge. How did it go for you? Here are a few lessons I have learned about my prayer life. 1. My prayer life is not rich enough. I need to pray more throughout the day, but I also need to set…
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Humility and Praying Continually

As I type, tears are streaming down my face. Partially because I’ve been drinking Satan’s kool-aid. The kind labeled Inadequate and Never-Good-Enough. The other reason is I am blessed with praying friends. Tomorrow I will stand before nearly 400 kids and teach them about God. Over the last week I imbibed from the fountain of…
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Praying to a Jealous God

Yesterday I mentioned God calling me to training myself to pray continually. I have not made my index cards yet, but I have noticed when my mind starts to wander I catch myself and pray more. Consider joining me for this 30 days of praying. Exodus 34:14 says, ” —for you shall not worship any…
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Hospitality the Vlog that Wasn’t

I was thinking I need to do another vlog. It has been a LONG time since I spoke to you all. 😉 So I sat down to record and this is what I saw:   Uh…So it has been a long day and yes I am wearing a cute hat, but I just couldn’t get…
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The Fog of Discontent

Discontent. It hangs like a fog around my heart and soul. My gaze turns to myself–what I have, what I don’t, dreams unmet, longings unfulfilled. My dreams of more give direction, but if I am not careful they feed discontent. Why don’t I have it? I want it for His glory. The discontent changes the…
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The C.A.L.L.

I have been memorizing the book of James. I am slowing down a bit, but I am more than half-way done. WOO HOO! This book is a challenging book. It is full of truths that begged to be lived out. One of those truths I memorized in the first chapter it says: “Religion that God…
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Socially Inept to Socially Confident in 24 hours

It isn’t easy being me. I don’t mean my life is harder than average. I mean it is exhausting being me. One Saturday night my husband and I had an event to attend. I only had slight acquaintances with the attendees and a bad attitude. I didn’t want to go, I was uncomfortable, scared, and…
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